Telephone booth



June 13, 1961 P H SHERRQN 2,988,178

TELEPHONE BOOTH Original Filed Sept. 5, 1952 4 sheetssheec 1 84 as 84 as INVENTOR. PERCIVAL H. SHERRON FIG. 2.

ATTORNEYS June 13, 1961 P. H. SHERRON 2,988,178

TELEPHONE BOOTH Original Filed Sept. 5, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 I55 INVENTOR.

PERCIVAL H. SHERRON ATTORNEYS June 13, 1961 P. H. SHERRON 2,988,178

TELEPHONE BOOTH Original Filed Sept. 3, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 n4 F I 6. I4.

INVENTOR. PERCIVAL H. SHERRON ta, 1) Muck ATTORNEYS June 13, 1961 P. H. SHERRON TELEPHONE BOOTH 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Original Filed Sept. 3. 1952 40 2430 44 IO I2 INVENTOR. PERCIVAL H. SHERRON BY ATTORNEYS United States Patent 2 Claims. (Cl. 1892) This invention relates to an improved telephone booth of the so-called stall type. More particularly, it relates to details of construction of the booth and elements used in the assembly thereof.

v This invention represents further improvements in the booth structure and is a division of my copending patent application Serial No. 307,630, filed September 3, 1952, now Patent No. 2,912,073.

v It is an object of this invention to provide a telephone booth having structural elements which can be fabricated easily and rapidly and which can be assembled to form a rigid structure.

' It is a further object of this invention to provide a telephone booth comprising an improved corner post employing a minimum number of parts and of interlocking construction.

In general, the telephone booth in accordance with this invention comprises a base, corner posts, wall panels, a lintel, a door assembly, and a ceiling structure. The telephone booth also includes miscellaneous other structural elements which will be described.

The foregoing objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the booth base;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical section of a portion of the base taken on the trace 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a transverse section of a portion of the base taken on the trace 33 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a transverse section of a portion of the base taken on the trace 44 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 is an elevation of the seat and seat support arm employed within the booth;

, FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of an outer rear corner post; i 7 FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of an outer front corner post;

FIGURE 8 is a perspective view of an inner rear corner post;

FIGURE, 9 is a perspective View of the inner front r aht l dcorner p 1 FIGURE 10 is a perspective view of a portion ofthe ceiling structure;

3 FIGURE 11 is a vertical section of the ceiling structure taken from the front to rear of the booth;

FIGURE 12 is a perspective view of a wall panel assembly;

FIGURE 13 is a perspective view of a completely assembled telephone booth;

FIGURE, 14is an enlarged section on the plane indi-, cated by line 14-14 of FIGURE 13';

FIGURE 15 is a perspective view showing the upper portion of one corner of the telephone booth in partially assembled form;

FIGURE 16 is a perspective view showing the lower end of a partially assembled corner post;

FIGURE 17 is an enlarged perspective showing of a,

lower edge an inwardly extending flange 6. The upper edge of the lower frame is formed to provide an internal channel 8 opening upwardly. The upper portion 4 of the base is formed with its upper edge providing an inwardly extending flange 10 and having adjacent to its lower edge an internal channel 12 opening downwardly. The channel 8 of the lower base section and the channel 12 of the upper base section face one another and are adapted to retain a strip 14 of a yielding material such as rubber or a soft fibrous material adapted to absorb vibrations transmitted from the surface on which the booth rests and to prevent the passage of these vibrations upwardly into the booth structure.

A strap 16 extends from the front to the rear of the booth and abuts against the inwardly extending rear lower flange 6. A floor plate 18 is attached to the inwardly extending flanges 6 and to the strap 16. Cemented onto the floor plate 18 is a sheet of linoleum or other suitable floor covering 20. A linoleum edging 22 is attached to the front portion of the lower surface of the floor plate 18 and at its ends is attached to inwardly turned flanges 23 of the lower base assembly.

The upper flange 10 of the upper portion of the base is provided, adjacent to each of the four corners of the booth, with bores 24. Straps 26 are secured to the underside of the flanges 10 adjacent to each corner of the booth. The straps are provided with bores in alignment with the bores 24 in the flange 10. The central portions of each of the straps 26 containing the bores 30 are spaced below the flange 10 and the end portions of each of the straps 26 are bent upwardly and are attached to the flange 10 preferably by welding.

In the rear left-hand corner of the booth base, as viewed from the front of the booth, there is provided a seat support structure including a triangularly shaped plate 32 which is adapted to rest upon and be connected to the floor plate 18. The plate 32 is formed with an upwardly extending flange 34 which has tab portions 36 extending from each end thereof and attached to the side wall 2 of the lower portion of the booth base. A bar 38 is attached to the upper surface of the plate 32. A plate 40 is positioned above the plate 32. The upper surface of the plate 40 is attached to the lower surface of the straps 26 in the left rear corner of the booth and is provided with bores 41 in alignment with the bores 30 in the straps 26. The plate 40 is provided with a downwardly extending flange 42 which is provided at its ends with tabs 44 which are adapted to be joined to the side wall of the upper portion 4 of the base. The plate 40 is provided with a bore 46. Attached to the lower surface of the plate 40 is a spring hinge arrangement. One leaf 48 of the hinge is attached to the plate 40 and the other leaf 50, which is adapted to bend downwardly, partially overlaps the bore 46 and has attached to it a metal disc 51 which covers the bore 46 when in an upward position as shown in FIGURE 3.

In FIGURE 5 there is shown a seat assembly including 3 a seat member 52, and a curved pipe support 54 the upper end of'which is attached to the lower surface of the seat 52. The lower end of the seat support 54 is provided with a notch 56. The lower end of the seat support 54 is adapted to pass through the bore 46 in the plate 40 and the notch 56 is provided to engagethe bar 38 attached to the plate 32. When the seat support 54 passes through the bore 46, the leaf 50 of the spring hinge and the disc 51 will be deflected downwardly and out of the way.

The flange 42 of plate 40 and the flange 34 of the plate 32 tapped and are adapted to receive bolts passed through 3 the bores 43 and 35 for further securing the seat assembly in position.

The booth includes four corner post assemblies 60, 62, 64 and .66. Each of the corner post assemblies comprises an inner corner post and an outer cornerpost. In FIG- URE 6 there is shown generally at 68 a typical rearouter corner post. This post is formed from a single sheet of metal and includes a pair of vertically extending panels 70 and 72 formed at right angles to each other and forming the outer surfaces of the corner of the booth. The outermost edges of the vertically extending panels 70 and 72 are each provided with a portion 74 bent backwardly upon the inner surface of its associated panel. Extending from and at right angles to each of the portions 74 is a flange 76, and extending from and at right angles to each of the flanges 76 is a flange 78. The flange 78 associated with panel 70 is parallel thereto and extends toward the panel 72 and the flange 78 associated with the panel 72 is parallel thereto and extends toward the panel 70.

At the lower end of each of the panels 70 and 72 there is an inwardly extending flange 80 to which there is secured a downwardly extending pin 82,

At the upper end of each of the panels 70 and 72 there is provided an inwardly and downwardly extending flange 84. The flange 84 terminates in a horizontal inwardly extending flange 86.

The outer post structure described in connection with FIGURE 6 is typical of the two rear outer post structures. In FIGURE 7 there is shown generally at 112 the righthand front outer post. This .post includes a pair of vertically extending panels 114 and 116. The panel 114 on the left side of the post, as viewed in FIGURE 7, has flanges 74, 76 and 78 identical to flanges 74, 76 and 78 on the outer post shown in FIGURE 6. These flanges, as will be hereinafter described, are adapted to provide, in conjunction with the mating inner post structure, a recess for the reception of a wall panel.

Adjacent to the vertically extending panel 116 is a flange 124 at right angles thereto and extending inwardly therefrom. Extending at right angles to the flange 124 is a flange 126 extending toward the panel 114 and parallel to the panel 116. The upper portion of the panel above the flange 124 is formed with a recessed flange portion 131 which is provided with bores 128 and is adapted to mount a door lintel 133 shown in FIGURE 13. The upper ends of the panels 114 and 116 are formed with flanges identical to those described as 84 and 86 in the post shown in FIGURE 6 and the lower ends of the panels 114 and 116 are formed with flanges 80 which contain pins 82 identical to those described in connection with the post shown in FIGURE 6. The post shown in FIGURE 7 is an outer front right-hand post and the outer front left left-hand post, not shown in detail, is identical to it with the exception of being reversed, that is, if viewed from the interior of the post, the recessed portion 131 would be on the left side of the post as viewed rather than on the right side as shown in FIGURE 7.

In FIGURE 8 there is shown generally at 88 the inner right-hand rear corner post. This post is formed from a single sheet of metal and includes a pair of vertically extending panels 90 and 92. The outward edgesof each of the panels 90 and 92 are provided with a portion 96 bent backwardly upon its associated panel and terminating in a channel formation 98. The clearance within the channel formation 98 is such as to admit the flange 78 of an outer post, as shown in FIGURE 6, when the posts are assembled as will be hereinafter described.

Each of the vertically extending panels 90 and 92 is formed at its lower end with inwardly extending flanges 100 and each of the flanges 100 is provided with a bore 102 adapted to receive the pins 82 of the outer post as-v semblies when the post assemblies are assembled with a floor assembly as will be described. 7

The inner post, shown in FIGURE 8, is provided with a ceiling structure support which is a horiziontal plate 104 including a central bore 106 and a pair of downwardly extending flanges 108 on planes at right angles to each other and adapted to be joined to the vertically extending panels 90 and 92 by welding, riveting or other suitable means. A pad 110 is attached to the outside surface of the inner right-hand rear corner post in the lower portion thereof and is adapted to support the lower end of the phone mounting post. It will be evident that the pins 82 may be replaced by bolts if desired.

In FIGURE 9 there is shown generally at 129 the front right-hand inner post assembly. This post includes a pair of vertically extending panels 130 and 132 at right angles to each other. The edges of each of the panels are formed with a bent back flange 96 terminating in a channel 98 identical to the formation of the post described in connection with FIGURE 8. The upper portion of the panel 130 is partially cut away and in place of the bead and channel arrangement 96 and 98 there is provided a Z-section plate 134 which is attached to the panels 130 and 132, as indicated at 136, by rivets, spot welds or other suitable means and provides an outstanding flange 138 to which nut retainers 140 are attached. When the righthand front inner post, shown in FIGURE 9, is assembled with the right-hand front outer post, shown in FIGURE 7, bores through the plate 138 in alignment with the nut retainers 140 von the inner post are adapted to align with the bores 128 in the recess 131 in the outer post. The

' complete post assembly will be hereinafter described more fully.

To the upper ends of the panels 130 and 132 there is attached a ceiling support plate 104 having downwardly extending flange portions 108 identical to that described in connection with FIGURE 8, and the lower ends of the panels 130 and 132 are provided with the outstanding flanges 100 which are provided with bores 102 identical with those shown in FIGURE 8.

Also attached to the vertically extending panel 130 is a reinforcing strip 142 which supports nut retainers 144. The reinforcing strip 142 and the vertically extending pane1 130 are provided with bores in alignment with the nut retainers 144 for the passage of bolts which attach the hinges mounting the booth doors shown at 232 in FIG URE 13. The front left-hand inner post assembly is the reverse of that shown in FIGURE 9 and does not include a door hinge mounting strip 142.

FIGURE 16 shows the outer post of FIGURE 7 and the inner post of FIGURE 9 in the process of assembly. It will be noted that the flange 78 is adapted to be retained within the channel 98, and that the flange 96 of the inner post assembly, the flange 74 of the outer post assembly and the flange 76 of the outer post jointly provide a channel shaped recess which is adapted to receive the booth side panel for the right-hand side of the booth which is identical to the side panel 148 shown in FIGURE 13 in the left side of the booth and will be described in detail in connection with FIGURE 12. The outer post panel 116 is provided with flanges 124 and 126. The flange 126 is adapted to nest within the channel 98 on the inner post and the flange 124 provides a flat surface against which the edge of the booth doors may abut.

The pins 82 affixed to the flanges at the lower end of the outer post are adapted to pass through the bores 102 in the flanges at the lower end of the inner post. The flanges 100 of the inner post are adapted to be passed between the straps 26 of the floor assembly and the upper flange 10 of the floor assembly. The flanges at the lower end of the outer post are adapted to rest upon the flange 10 of the base structure with the pins 82 passing through the bores 24 in the flange 10. When the pins 82 are passed-through the bores 24 in the flange 10, the bores 102 in the flange and the bores 30 in the straps 26, they will lock the corner post assembly together and in; position with respect to the base structure. This con nection between the corners of the base structure and the lower ends of the corner post assemblies is typical for each of the four posts of the booth.

The booth is provided with two side and one rear panel. A typical panel is shown at 148 in FIGURE 12. The panel is a rectangular member which may be either of sheet metal construction or formed from a single piece of fibrous or other suitable sound absorbent material. The panel assembly shown is formed from a rectangular inner panel 150, a rectangular outer panel 153 and a supporting frame 155 extending around and joining the periphery of the inner and outer panels. Afiixed to the lower edge of the panel assembly is a channel 152 having upstanding legs engaging the sides of the panel. The channel 152 is a length shorter than the width of the panel, thereby leaving at the end of the channel 152 a clearance indicated generally at 162 equal to the depth of the channel formed by the flanges 74, 76 and 96 shown in FIGURE 16.

A channel 154 is attached to the upper edge of the panel assembly. On the outside of the panel assembly the channel is provided with a downwardly extending flange 156. The inside downwardly extending flange of the channel 154 is provided with an inwardly extending horizontal flange 158 which is provided with bores 160. The channel 154 is also shorter than the width of the panel assembly to permit the panel to nest in the post assemblies at its upper end in the manner previously described in connection with its lower end.

The booth ceiling assembly includes a ceiling pan assembly shown generally at 162 in FIGURE 10. The pan assembly includes four vertical side walls 164 having flanges 166 extending horizontally outwardly from the upper edges thereof. Each of the flanges 166 is provided with bores 167 adapted to mate with the bores 160 in the side panel assemblies previously described. A pan 168 having upturned flanges 173 is adapted to fit against the lower edge of the side walls 164 and to provide a bottom closure therefor. The flanges 173 are attached to the outer surfaces of the side walls 164. The pan 168 is provided with a hinged portion 170 extending transversely of the ceiling pan assembly. The pan 168 is also provided with a bore 172. Covered sheets of suitable sound deadening material 174 and 176 are positioned upon the inner surface of the pan 168 and a sheet of sound deadening material 178 is aflixed to the inside surface of the hinged portion 170 of the pan 168.

Gusset plates 163 are attached to the ceiling pan flanges 166 at each of the four corners of the ceiling structure. Each of the gusset plates are provided with a bore 165 which is adapted to be in alignment with the bore 106 in the plates 104 aflixed to the upper ends of each of the inner posts when the booth is assembled. A bracket member 171 is provided in the left rear corner of the ceiling structure above the bore 172 and is adapted to receive the upper end of a telephone mounting column passing upwardly through the bore 172 in the ceiling pan 168.

Attached to the lower edge of the door lintel 133 is an upper door track mounting bracket 204. This bracket extends inwardly from the lower edge of the lintel and is attached thereto by means of a channel 210. Supported on the inner edge of the bracket is the upper door track 201 which guides the upper portion of the free end of the door assembly as will be described. The track extends in a diagonal manner from an inward position, as shown in FIGURE 11, which is adjacent to the right-hand front door post to a position immediately back of the lintel 133, as indicated by the arrow 208, adjacent to the left-hand front post. The ends of the lintels 202 are provided with slots 203 for the reception of bolts which are adapted to engage nuts in retainers in the adjacent posts such as are shown at 140 in FIGURE 9 and which support the lintel.

When the inner post shown in FIGURE 9 is assembled to the outer post shown in FIGURE 7, the assembly will be that of a right-hand front post. FIGURE 15 shows the upper end portion of an assembled left-hand front post which is the reverse of the right-hand'front post. The figure shows the flange 131 of the outside post in engagement with the flange 138 of the inside post and the alignment of the 'bores 128 in the outside post with the bores and nut retainers 140 on the inside post providing for the lintel mounting. In this connection, see also FIGURES 14 and 18. 7

When the inner and outer posts are assembled, the flange 78 of the outer post is nested within the channel 98 of the inner post and the inner and outer posts thereby form a side panel retaining channel bounded by the flanges 74, 76 and 96. d The frame of a side panel nests within this channel and the channel member 154 affixed to the top edge of the side panel terminates adjacent to the outermost edges of the flanges 74 and 96.

There is also shown in FIGURE 15 a corner of the ceiling pan assembly in disassembled relation with the corner post and side panel assembly. It will be evident that, upon assembly, the plate 163 of the ceiling pan is adapted to rest upon the plate 104 extending inwardly from the top of the inner corner post and the flange 166 of the ceiling pan is adapted to rest upon the flange 158 of the side panel assembly. When the parts are thus assembled, the bore 165 in the ceiling pan plate 163 is in alignment with the bore 106 in the corner post plate 104. These parts may then be fastened together by a bolt or other suitable means. Similarly the bores 167 in the flanges 166 of the ceiling pan assembly are adapted to be in alignment withthe bores in the flange 158 attached to the side panel assembly. The ceiling cover plate 194, shown in FIGURE 11 and not shown in FIGURE 15, is at this time placed in position upon the ceiling pan. The cover plate is provided with outstanding flanges 196 which are in turn provided with bores which are adapted to align with the bores 167 in the ceiling pan and with the bores 160 in the side panel flanges. Bolts or other suitable fastening means may be passed through these aligning bores in order to join the ceiling cover plate, the ceiling pan and the side panel flanges together in the manner previously described in connection with FIG- URE 11.

It will be evident that various modifications may be made in the embodiment of the invention disclosed herein without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a telephone booth, the combination comprising an upright hollow corner post including a pair of sheet metal sections respectively providing oppositely directed inner and outer faces of said post, the one of said sections providing the outer face of said post being provided with a longitudinally extending marginal area turned out of the plane of said outer post face toward the one of said sections providing the inner face of said post thereby to form an outer post face defining edge extending in an unbroken straight line the full length of said post, the upper terminal portion of said marginal area being folded back under said outer post section and then turned therefrom thereby to form a laterally extending flange set back from said face defining edge to provide a recess in one side of said post, the one of said sections providing the inner face of said post being provided with a flange extending laterally therefrom and abutting said first-mentioned flange, a lintel having one end portion nested in said recess, bolts projected through the end of said lintel and through said flanges and fastening said lintel to said post, the section providing the inner face of said post being provided with a longitudinally extending marginal area beneath said lintel turned out of the plane of said inner post face, one of said marginal areas beneath said lintel being flanged and the other being hooked over said flange.

2. In a telephone booth, the combination comprising 7 an upright hollow corner post including a pair of sheet metal sections respectively providing oppositely directed inner and outer facesof said post, the one of said sections providing the outer face of said post being provided with a longitudinally extending marginal area turned out of the plane of said outer post face toward the one of said sections providing the inner face of said post thereby to form an outer post face defining edge extending in an unbroken straight line the full length of said post, the upper terminal portion of said marginal area being folded back sharply and disposed against said outer post section and then turned therefrom thereby to form a flange disposed normal thereto and set back from said face defining edge a substantial distance to provide a deep recess in one side of said post, the one of said sections providing the inner face of said post being provided with a flange disposed normal thereto and abutting said firstmentioned flange, a lintel having a squared end portion nestedin saidrecess, bolts projected through the end of said lintel and through said flanges and fastening said lintel to said post, the part of said marginal area beneath 8 a said lintel being flanged and turned laterally from said outer post section, and the section providing the inner face of said post being provided with a longitudinally extending marginal area turned out of the plane of said inner post face and hooked over said first-mentioned flange.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,468,100 Baldwin Sept. 18, 1923 1,754,261 Carrozza Apr. 15, 1930 1,965,598 Koenig July 10, 1934 2,010,890 Prince Aug. 13, 1935 2,126,499 Petersen Aug. 9, 1938 2,205,826 Small June 25, 1940 2,229,775 Sherron Jan. 28, 1941 2,313,471 Hallam Mar. 9, 1943 2,371,968 Lum Mar. 20, 1945 2,614,664 Sherron Oct. 21, 1952 

